Urban Forest
by shalbores
Summary: Emily Fields studies pre-med and one day calls out Alison DiLaurentis, a cashier in the university coffee shop, for regularly smelling like smoke. Things go berserk as little secrets about the badass blonde unravel. What more could there be for Emily than meets the eye? Fantasy AU. Slightly OOC.
1. Chapter 1

It had to take a seatmate to nudge Emily in the shoulder for her to shake awake and realize that class was over.

" _Thank God for minor subjects"_ , she thought.

"Emily!" Toby chimed from behind, his gentle voice, nerd glasses, and mid part hairstyle never ceasing to amuse the brunette.

"So uhm, swimming class is up next, right?" Emily turned to ask, hoping she had it right – because the schedule was still a blur. School had only been going on for about three weeks. And clearly, she did not expect the second trimester of her sophomore year to be such an academic shock. She had pulled all-nighters before, but it was never as bad as she had them since the curriculum changed and the school had to add another grading period to the academic year.

"Yup," Toby answered swiftly as he stood and tapped his foot repeatedly against the floor.

"Do you have to go pee or something?" the brunette queried, noticing the excessive motions her friend was making.

"No, it's just.. Maybe you should hurry up. Class starts in ten minutes," Toby answered as he glanced frantically at his wristwatch.

Emily checked her phone. 14:50 PM.

"Swimming, right?" Emily asked again.

"Yes. Nine minutes, Emily," he said as he stepped towards Emily's chair, motioning for her to get up already. Towering over her, Toby could easily pick her up and carry her to their next class, but he trusts her enough to leave her be and go about doing her own thing. That was why their friendship worked so well. It wasn't your typical boy-girl relationship where eventually one of them falls for the other and they live happily ever after. This one was not like the movies. In fact it was the total opposite, it was almost embarrassing. The Westermarck applied to them, as they grew up together and practically shared Pam Fields for a mother after Toby lost his.

Plus, Emily was gay so there was that.

Slapped back from her thoughts, she gathered her things and stood, slinging her bag across her shoulder. It wasn't until they had walked out of the room when Toby yet again spoke as he noted Emily going another direction.

"Where are you going?"

"Not to class," Emily stated as though it were the most obvious thing ever. She had already taken a few steps towards the building exit.

"But it's swimming!" the tall boy exclaimed.

"Exactly. That's why I know I don't have to go. I can make up next week," she replied.

"But…"

"But nothing, man! Don't tell mom I skipped class! Love you!" Emily yelled as she stepped outside, taking in the sight of the lush green field that embodied Woodridge University.

For a second, she considered going back to her dorm room to take a long nap, but then dismissed the thought right away after thinking about how much work she still had left to do - from minor Theology essays to daunting Biochemistry pre-lab reports.

" _Damn."_

A s she couldn't work without coffee, she decided to stop by the university café to grab a cup... or three. After all, you can't really OD on coffee, as she had learned last year from one of her classes.

* * *

Walking a few buildings away wasn't really a workout at all for her, but today was especially different because Emily was just exhausted from all of the school work she had, and it was only Wednesday! By the time she had reached the coffee shop, she had been crankier than ever; and the need to fan herself grew along with the desperate feeling of needing to sit and rest and ultimately sleep.

Still, fighting the urge to sit on one of the cushioned seats of the Urban Forest Café, she brought herself to stand in line and order her coffee – patience wearing thin, eyes not even focused enough to note the new girl that worked the register. It was a good thing too that there weren't very many customers around at the time, and there was only one person up queue before Emily, and that one person had already taken their order so Emily was up next.

"Hi, I'll have a short-" Emily stopped herself mid-sentence and shook her head when she realized "short" was a serving used in Starbucks and that the Urban Forest served 12 ounces minimum, instead of 8. "Sorry. Force of habit. I meant a _regular_ Americano," she corrected and handed a bill to the blonde girl whose presence she had now begun to notice.

The girl flashed her an undeniably perfect set of pearly whites, followed by a hearty chuckle.

The blonde's short puff of air caused Emily to cough, detecting the faint smell of charred cigarettes in her breath. She had never been one exposed to secondhand smoke, let alone smoking herself. That part, she thought was ridiculous because she got culture shocked when she first entered uni and found way too many college kids smoking their lungs off one at a time. Anyhow, Emily knew better than to punish her respiratory lining with cigarette smoke.

"Can I get your name, please?" the blonde girl spoke, her smile unwavering.

"Em," she replied hard-heartedly. _Damn, this girl is way too bubbly. And Jesus Christ she must be a chain smoker. I can smell her from across this counter._

The distance between them wasn't very big though, and Emily was well aware that anyone could smell that on the blonde. It wasn't like Emily was the only one sensing it.

" _I'm surprised nobody called the manager on her yet,"_ Emily thought.

"M, as in the letter in the alphabet or Em, as in Emma?" the blonde spoke again. Emily wondered how long she would have to interact with the overly giddy girl and hoped that the barista would finish up on her order soon so that she could finally sit down.

"The letter," Emily lied, in the hopes of getting the blonde girl to just shut up already.

"Oh, well then, _M,_ " the blonde said, as she turned to the barista and took Emily's coffee into her hand. "Here you go," she added as she handed Emily the cup.

"Thank you.." Emily's voice subdued, conjuring up enough manners to at least learn the name of the blonde who had tried to chat her up even though she was obviously a zombie walking on campus.

"Alison. My name's Alison. You'd think a cashier around here would catch a break and at least have the benefit of being given a nameplate but apparently not, right?" the other girl answered with the exact same chuckle she let out earlier, which made Emily once again cough on the smell.

"Right. Well.. gotta go," Emily's plans of hanging around the coffee shop were closed down when she agreed she couldn't take another god-awful whiff off of the cigarette junkie in front of her.

" _Fucking crazy ass blonde trying to kill people with her cigarette breath.._ " she thought as she took one last glance at the girl before heading out to her dorm.


	2. Chapter 2

Emily's roommate tossed around in her bed, finally getting fed up by Emily's consecutive grunts. It was just an hour before midnight, and Emily had elected to stay up again despite legitimately needing the sleep.

She scribbled on her paper with a pencil, only to erase it again and grumble to herself. If only she didn't have a roommate whose ears were too sensitive to her whining.

"Go to sleep," her roommate, Paula pleaded. It had not been too long ago when they started speaking. Paula was a freshman, while Emily had been used to the university ambiance for about a year before they had met. Ultimately, they had grown to become friends, despite Emily having to unintentionally wake the younger girl with her nightlight at times. Paula understood the late nights, being in pre-med herself.

"You go to sleep," Emily responded as she blankly stared at her paper.

"What are you working on, anyway?" Paula asked, her voice still somewhat raspy from sleep.

Emily watched the younger girl scramble out of bed to walk towards her desk. Paula was actually a good roommate, not being one who pries all the time (of course, however, she occasionally checked on how Emily was doing.. as what was happening at the moment). And she wasn't the archetypal naïve freshman who longed for experiments and fraternity-slash-sorority parties. She was just.. Paula. Platonic Paula. Platonic Paula with the flowy auburn hair and the body-hugging raglan shirt.

As she neared, Emily couldn't help but let her eyes roam the redhead's figure, raking her gaze slowly with light, malicious intent. She shook her head and cleared her throat, disappointed by how easily Paula could work her up without even trying.

"Hormones," she muttered under her breath.

"Hormones?" Paula asked in a confused tone.

"I mean, diazepam," Emily replied, the redhead not catching her nervous gesture.

"You know they don't administer that for hormonal imbalance, right?" Paula answered candidly, eyeing the paper that Emily had in front of her. Like Emily had claimed, it was a written paragraph about the drug diazepam, and a lousy drawing of its chemical structure. Clearly, Emily had been agonizing over the challenge to draw a perfect heptagon.

"Right.. I.." the brunette looked for a way out, steering the conversation. She lifted her coffee cup, which was about a foot away from the paper she was working on, and realized that she had already emptied it shortly before her roommate got up. "I'm obviously beat. I need another one," she added as she held up the empty cup, stood, and headed for the door.

" Okay.." her friend answered confusedly . "Stay safe. You kn-" Paula managed to say before she was completely cut off by a flustered Emily slamming the door.

* * *

" _I swear one of these days I am going to jump her if she keeps provoking me,"_ Emily's thoughts ran wild as she walked across the field of the university.

This wasn't the first time she saw herself out of her dorm room to get away from Paula. There was one time, out of many others, when she had to excuse herself after walking in on Paula wearing workout shorts and a sports bra. The way Paula's sweat trickled down her abdomen while she flawlessly executed a couple pull-ups was just too much of a sight for Emily. She had never figured out how she survived four years of being clustered with ladies in locker rooms back in high school and yet be totally bothered by this one redhead. Maybe because it was her being out now, or that she could totally have her way with Paula because nobody ever came over to visit either of them, except for Toby who occasionally dropped by to let Emily copy off of his assignments and/or to download a movie from Emily's laptop. Maybe, and by a long shot, Paula had been covertly trying to seduce Emily after all, and hoped to get a good fuck out of her.

Whatever it was, she opted not to think about it at the time as she had already reached the café.

Emily took in the interior of the coffee shop, appreciating for the first time the calming balance between the green and the brown décor. She looked around, not really surprised to see a couple of students hanging around. It was, after all, college; and a lot of people here couldn't afford to sleep. Not when they studied engineering or political science or life science for the hell of it.

She walked to the counter, only to be met by the annoying blonde that had attended to her earlier.

"You're still here," Emily said in a surly manner, though she thought it had come off as bored or uninterested in conversation.

"And you're still up," the same, frisky aura of the smiling blonde consistent as ever, as was her stale cigarette stench.

"Well, barely. So I'll have a regular Americano, double shot please," Emily replied, fishing out a dollar from her pocket.

As soon as the blonde saw this, she immediately shook her head, as if telling Emily to stop. She wrote in the order on the computer before speaking again.

"It's on the house, M," Alison called her by her bogus name.

"On the house? Says who?" Emily asked, her rugged personality still on display.

"Just because I stand at the register and wait tables, doesn't mean I can't afford to buy you a drink," she answered and winked at Emily, which Emily probably would have missed had she rolled her eyes at the flirtatious blonde.

"Thank you. That's very kind of you.. Alison," she commented, barely remembering the blonde's name.

The barista finished up on her order, timing on point as usual - one of the reasons why Emily loved coming to this café in particular. If it weren't for this new blonde cashier that just had to smile and chuckle constantly, the Urban Forest Café would be a ten out of ten in _every_ branch.

Still, no matter how annoying Emily thought the blonde was, she still bought Emily coffee, and that at least had to count for something in return.

"Do you wanna maybe take a break? Sit down with me," Emily offered impassively. The blonde nodded, and tapped on the barista's shoulder, asking him to cover the register for a while.

Alison exited the counter and led Emily to the more well-lit corner of the shop. "This side has the best view of the field," the blonde pointed out as she motioned for Emily to sit by the glass window.

"I know. I-I come here a lot," she mumbled with a stutter, hoping the slow music that blared on the speakers would stop playing. It was quite awkward, looking into Alison's blue eyes. They looked so.. relaxing.

"So, M," the blonde started as she settled on the seat in front of Emily, "What's with the confined attitude? I mean, are you like one of those emo kids in liberal arts?"

Emily chuckled in response, feeling slightly embarrassed that Alison described her ill-mannered behavior in such a euphemistic manner.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry about being a bitch today. It's just school. It's killing me," Emily quietly uttered, and flashed Alison an apologetic smile.

"Ah, she smiles," the other girl said in delight.

"Do you go here?" Emily took a sip at her coffee before bringing her sight back to the blonde.

"Yup. Interior design," Alison replied with a sigh as she looked around the coffee shop.

The clear-cut smell of smoke from Alison's breath hiked up as she sighed, but Emily shrugged it off yet again, keeping in mind that it would be impolite to talk about someone's vices.

"What was that?" Emily gave a concerned look.

"What was what?"

"That sigh after you said 'interior design'?"

"Oh," Alison chuckled, "I just miss home. The theme here kinda reminds me of it."

Emily looked around, taking in the view of the forest-themed shop.

"Where are you from, anyway?" Emily asked.

"Oregon," the blonde smiled as she watched Emily take another sip from her coffee.

"If this place reminds you so much of home, why'd you decide to work here, then?"

Alison shook her head, "It's not like that," she gauged Emily's reaction before speaking again, " _I_ designed it this way so that it'd give me the Oregon atmosphere."

"Hold on. Let me get this straight," Emily cleared her throat, "You're in undergrad," she went on as Alison nodded, "and you already got a gig to design a shop?"

The blonde laughed lightly. "It's pretty easy to land a 'gig' if your dad owns the place," she chuckled as she watched Emily choke on her coffee.

"Your dad owns the Urban Forest Café?" Emily gulped, trying to recover from gagging on her drink.

"The Urban Forest _Group,_ " Alison corrected, observing Emily's reaction. It made the blonde laugh more when Emily shifted in her seat with unease. "Yeah, I get that reaction a lot. _Oh, so you don't actually work the register and instead own a chain of a high-end coffee shop?_ " she added with a chuckle, mirroring one out of just about a hundred people who have been as shocked as Emily.

"Holy crap."

"Yeah, that too," the blonde added, chuckles in between her words.

Averting her attention from the blonde, Emily glanced at the clock that hung by the wall near the entrance. _11:51._ This gesture did not go unnoticed.

"It's almost midnight," Emily gushed, taking a big swig from her cup.

"Off to the afterparty, Cinderella?" Alison teased.

"More like off to another four hours of facilitated book diffusion," she hissed at the idea.

"Can I ask you something before you go, though?" Alison asked nonchalantly.

"If it's something along the lines of 'can-I-get-your-number', then no," Emily said in a playful banter, finally draining her cup.

"Okay, ouch," the blonde laughed.

"I mean, I know it sounds really self-absorbed, but I haven't really memorized it and I don't have my phone with me right now," Emily informed, her mood a thousand times lighter since she left her room.

"Good to know, but that wasn't really what I wanted to ask," Alison smiled and watched as Emily's expression dared her to go on, "Plus, you said you came here a lot so I'm betting this isn't the last time I'll be seeing you."

Emily stood, growing restless. It really was getting late and she still had to finish up on drawing chemical structures, but that didn't stop her from smiling like an idiot when Alison walked her towards the door.

"So what's your question?" Emily badgered, feeling a bit anxious.

"What does 'M' stand for?" the blonde casually asked.

"What?" Emily questioned, thrown by the blonde's random curiosity.

"M, as in your name? I'm betting that that's not what it says on your birth certificate. And it's not fair that you know my name, and I don't really know yours," Alison stuck her tongue out in jest.

The brunette laughed, feeling a bit guilty for lying about her name earlier.

"That's for you to find out," Emily beamed, and started walking.

"Good night," the contented blonde half-yelled.

Emily turned, "It's actually morning, so," she said as she shrugged her shoulders with a grin.


	3. Chapter 3

" _I can't believe I'm doing this,_ " Emily thought as she willed herself to once again enter the Urban Forest, days after formally meeting Alison DiLaurentis – kin of the person who owned one of the most prestigious cafés in North America. Of course, like any other follower, she first and foremost consulted Google, which she believed reliable all throughout high school. And most of the time it was, outstandingly providing information on just about everything, such as the exact numbers on Alison DiLaurentis' net worth of three hundred and thirty-six million US dollars.

She almost didn't want to move after reading the figures that sprawled across her laptop. How could she return to a café to face and flirt with a stranger whose family held so much money and power? Normally a commoner would shrivel up faced in the presence of someone of stature, but Emily Fields, being the conflicted marshmallow that she was, resolved to take a go anyway, only to be met with disappointment when she found Alison seated with another girl, who giggled just a little too much every time Alison flashed her a smile.

" _Well fuck this shit. The counter's her hunting area, and the tables are her kill zones. Go figure!"_ she pondered, as she quickly exited the coffee shop. Too bad too, because she really wanted a coffee at the time. More importantly, she really wanted to hang out with the blonde that had captured her interest.

"M?" a voice from behind took a hold of her attention.

The brunette turned, instantly noting the blonde's eyes, a sullen shade of red consuming her sclerae. "I hope you're using prescription eye drops," she managed to say though still slightly upset by the fact that Alison had been dallying with other girls after thinking they had a moment the other night.

Alison closed her eyes and frowned, opening them again and pressing the bridge of her nose before speaking. "Yeah, I got them checked out by a specialist, thanks."

Emily rolled her eyes, wondering what it mattered now that she had lost interest.

"I gotta go," the brunette sighed, "Mr. O'Grady isn't very approving when it comes to tardiness."

"You'll come by soon, though, right?" Alison asked with a hopeful expression.

"For a coffee, yes," the other girl replied, feeling the need to emphasize her frustration. She turned round and began walking towards the medical science building, but not before looking back and spoke, "And just for the record, Alison," she paused to swallow out of spite, "everybody hates smokers."

With that, Emily jogged away, regretting that she had deliberately skipped class to pay a player a visit.

 _So much for once-upon-a-times._

* * *

WEEKS LATER

 _And here I was thinking that Paula wasn't the type that experimented…_

She was totally dumbfounded. Emily, of all people; the girl who once had everything in control, had lost control.

She thought she had a good handle on things after the fifth week of school, now getting the hang of balancing her academic life and her social life (most of which Toby makes up, as well as wild frat parties from time to time). Never mind sleep, because she got the weekends off anyway, and she usually spent them sleeping. It had been the perfect compromise… until she lay awake at 3AM on a Thursday, half naked and next to her sleeping roommate.

1:46 A.M. – _That_ Thursday

"You know, most nursing students hate Pharmaceutical Biochemistry because it's such a bore," Paula randomly stated as she got up from her bed and turned her body to face Emily. The brunette at the time lay relaxed on her own bed, invested in reading chapter 8 of her thick copy of Biochemistry by Ferrier. Of course, she had disturbed Paula from her slumber again, as it is almost every night because of her constant page turning and adjusting and readjusting of her lamp. "I, on the other hand, hate it for a completely different reason," Paula added, squinting her eyes at her friend who seemed to pay no attention to what she was saying. "Emily!"

"Hmm?" Emily replied without thought, not even bothering to look up at her roommate, "What was that?" she asked absent-mindedly, highlighting a sentence as she spoke.

"I said, do you know why I don't enjoy Biochemistry?" the redhead chuckled with a playful look flashing across her face, which Emily had failed to notice.

"Why not?" Emily mumbled, her attention still not caught by Paula, who now strode to sit down by her side.

"Because it keeps you up," the younger girl inched closer towards Emily. "More importantly, it keeps _me_ up," Paula sighed in exasperation as Emily's eyes continued to scan the page. "What if I told you," she breathed, "that I want to take you right now…"

"Cool," Emily answered inattentively, still ridiculously unaware of what her roommate had been trying to appeal to her.

With the loss of patience, Paula rolled her eyes and shifted her weight to straddle the brunette's thighs.

"Dude, what are you d-" Emily was quickly cut off when the redhead grinded against her pelvis. The older girl's breath hitched in her throat, finding it unbelievable, how fleetingly her book fell to the floor when her grip loosened due to the rousing contact between their parts.

"Finally caught your attention, I see?" Paula teased in a relaxed manner, as if knowing all along that Emily would let her have control over her.

Minimal resistance. After all, the sexual tension's been there all along, only neither of them decided to act on it, not until now at least, when Paula had without a doubt grown tired of playing coy.

"Don't test me, Paula," Emily warned, immediately regretting she had said that. She couldn't pretend she didn't want this when her body screamed otherwise.

Ignoring Emily's word, the worked up redhead slipped her hands under Emily's tank top and slid them up the swimmer's abdomen, trailing her nails back down against Emily's toned stomach to the waistband of her shorts.

Emily exhaled, the only action she could muster up after her yearning for more contact had taken over.

Unwavering as ever, Paula pushed up the other girl's top up to uncover her stomach, leaning down and beginning to kiss a trail down Emily's side, nipping and placing red marks across the flesh as she went.

"Stop talking like you don't want me to fuck you senseless, Fields," the younger girl retorted, her teeth biting just above Emily's shorts.

Emily swallowed hard, the redhead not failing to detect her roommate's sudden lack of vocabulary.

"You enjoying this yet?" Paula smirked into the swimmer's soft skin, curling her fingers lightly around the edges of Emily's shorts and tugging them down gently to her knees.

Her lips followed the halfway-discarded garment, trailing down Emily's outer thigh before switching to the inside and moving back up again, stopping at the hem of her underwear, planting feathery kisses on the soaked fabric.

"Fuck," Emily puffed, her words mixed into a low moan as she gripped the sheets.

"I'll take that as a yes," Paula hummed, her lips ghosting over the warm wetness that exuded through Emily's underwear.

"Jesus," Emily managed to say, her heart beating out of her chest as she fought against the urge to arch her hips into Paula's mouth.

"So religious all of a sudden," Paula said in jest, pushing her thumb against Emily's clit through her underwear, her lips continuing to graze against the brunette's wetness.

"Fuck it," Emily cried out, letting go of the fistful of sheets she had in her hands and sitting up on the bed faster than Paula saw coming, pulling the equally frenzied redhead up from between her legs and pressing their mouths together.

Their tongues instantly began a battle for dominance as their lips clashed furiously, Paula's knee finding its way between Emily's legs to rub and push against her, causing the brunette to whimper into Paula's mouth.

Not long after, however, Paula found herself beneath Emily, her knee still rubbing against the other woman's crotch as the brunette made quick work of the redhead's shorts, pushing them down past her ankles.

From there she instantly began to rub Paula through her underwear with two fingers, causing the younger girl to sigh contentedly into her mouth.

"Can you imagine what fun it'd be if we started this a little while back?" Emily chuckled, trying to appear to have some sort of composure, when in fact she hardly had any poise left in her.

She moved swiftly past Paula's underwear, her two fingers slipping instantly inside Paula's wet folds and beginning to pump in and out frantically. Paula emitted a sharp gasp of pleasure, her knee thrusting involuntarily into Emily's core, causing the brunette to grunt as it sent a shock of pleasure through her.

Paula's hands moved quickly to Emily's clit, moving past the barrier of underwear as she relieved her knee of duty and began rubbing hard circles in Emily's bundle of nerves with her fingertips, working tentatively as she did not know how Emily liked to have it. The brunette's whimpers however urged the younger girl to continue.

As Emily's paced quickened, so too did Paula's, the redhead soon allowing her fingers to move lower, as they slid into Emily's core, curling around her G spot on the way back out just as Emily began to play with Paula's clit, rubbing in a circular motion and increasing her speed.

Shortly after, both women were already glistening in their own sweat, their bodies moving in time to the rapid motions of one another's fingers. Emily could feel herself begin to peak, and from the way Paula was clenching around her fingers, she knew the redhead wasn't far behind her. With that in mind her lips found their way back to Paula's mouth again and she kissed her hard, the women swallowing one another's cries as they came undone together, Emily collapsing heavily atop her panting roommate.

Minutes went by before one of them attempted to break the ice.

"Well…" Paula mused as her breathing returned to normal, quite unsure where her sentence was going as she awkwardly placed a hand on Emily's ass.

"I don't wanna sound too eager…" Emily's voice trailed off, "but I think we should do this again sometime."

"Good thing we're roommates, huh?" the redhead replied, both of them chuckling over the idea of violating the other on a regular basis.

Sure, non-conventional meaningless sex was not bound to be a healthy combination between the two keen college girls, but neither could deny that the sex was just mind-blowing. Besides, the lengths Emily would go through to try to forget about a certain blonde smoker was far too great.

* * *

 **A/N: Kudos to x-backtoblack-x. I wouldn't be able to write this smut chapter had I not patterned it after her works.**

 **Also, it might not seem like it, but this _is_ a fantasy AU. The storyline's just a bit slow because the characters need to develop. Wait it out, guys. We'll get there :)**


	4. Chapter 4

TUESDAY

"Shit," Emily piped as she scrambled out of bed, in a frantic search for her discarded clothes that lay on the floor. "Paula," she hissed quietly, shaking the nude woman awake – to no avail.

She managed to put on her shorts, going commando for the time being, and hastily continued to clean up after her roommate, picking up pieces of clothing and graded papers - the products of last night's barbaric fuck session.

Emily jumped up in surprise as another three knocks were heard from the doorway.

"Just a minute!" the brunette yelled, pulling a shirt over her head and crumpling one of her essays, which she threw across the room, towards a still heavily asleep Paula.

"Emily? Are you okay in there?" Toby asked from the other side of the door, a lace of concern in his voice.

If only sweet, sweet Toby knew what was really going on…

Emily dashed to her bed where the redhead lay, sinking her teeth hard into the freshman's lower lip, an action of which caused the younger girl's eyes to flutter open in pain, "What the hell?!" Paula snarled, confused as to why Emily took her by the forearm and dragged her towards the crevice between the door and the wall, butt naked and all.

The brunette held up her index finger and pressed it against her lips, silently begging her roommate not to make a sound as she cracked the door open a little, expertly hiding the other girl from sight.

She was met with her best friend who was holding a somewhat big box in his hand, giving it to Emily as he gestured that it was probably a package that lay in front of her door.

"Toby. You can't come in, I'm not feeling very well," she said almost too promptly as she feigned a throaty cough, taking the box from her friend.

Toby pursed his lips, shooting Emily a look of worry as he reached out into the small gap in the doorway and held a hand against the brunette's forehead to check if a fever spiked. He shook his head and raised a brow after failing to detect warmth. On the contrary, Emily was quite cold to the touch, as her anxiety sent sweat across her body.

"Well, have you taken anything?" the boy asked, still unaware of the fact that Paula stood undressed right beside Emily.

"Not really. But I'll be fine," she said with a reassuring smile, hoping her friend would buy it and just tell her why he had come, "You didn't tell me you were dropping by," she added.

"I sent you a bunch of texts, Em," he replied sorely, "since last night. You didn't reply to any of them."

Emily felt like she kicked a puppy when Toby said this, a pang of guilt washing over her as images of last night with Paula flashed in her mind. What would be so urgent that Toby would send her 'a bunch' of texts? Whatever 'a bunch' meant…

Even so, Toby was here now. And by the looks of it, the way he stood, his lack of glasses, and unusually loose suspenders, he needed something from his friend.

"What's wrong?" she asked, this time, it was her who was concerned.

Toby simply sighed and bowed his head, mustering up the grit to tell his friend what the problem was.

"I need to borrow…" Toby gulped. For a moment, he considered saying _I need to borrow your hair products_ , but thought it would have sounded too nonsensical if he started with that statement. "Your skills."

"My… skills?" Emily said quizzically, not sure what her friend meant. Paula, who was now beginning to feel bored from where she stood, almost burst out laughing as another interpretation came into her mind.

Toby sighed again, figuring it would be easier to just say it straight, even if he would most likely earn a side-splitting laugh from Emily.

"I have a date on Friday. I need you to groom me. Do my hair and stuff."

Emily gaped for a moment, impressed with her nerd of a brother.

"Wow, man. That's great!" she said in response, grinning. And it was genuine, too. Toby hadn't been with anyone since forever. At one point, the brunette even began to doubt her friend's orientation, but quickly wrote off the idea after she had thrice caught him checking out Amber Victorino's rack during gym in senior year.

Toby smiled nervously, as though relieved that Emily didn't poke fun at him.

"Friday, okay? I'll text you when I'm coming over," he informed, grinning at his friend.

Emily chuckled, delighted to see the tall boy gloating, "Okay," she said in between chuckles, "Don't get all touchy."

"I'm not getting touchy," Toby laughed, "Thanks, though. I really appreciate it," he added, now with a more serious look.

"Anytime," the brunette replied with a sincere smile.

There was rather an awkward silence after Emily's line, mainly due to the fact that she couldn't follow up on it because Paula had taken her right middle finger into her mouth. The brunette could feel her roommate's tongue swirling around her digit, devilishly biting down, which ultimately caused Emily to prematurely say her goodbyes to Toby.

Fortunately for the brunette, the conversation was at an end anyway, and Toby had been long gone when she closed the door and pinned Paula against the nearest wall.

"Don't do that again," she said sternly, breathing down heavily against Paula's neck.

"Then stop charming me with your ass, Emily," the redhead whispered jokingly in her ear, Emily at sea as to how Paula could still manage to make it sound so torrid.

She shook her head and chuckled, pulling away from the naked girl.

"What is that?" Paula asked when she saw Emily fumbling with the box.

"Dunno," the brunette answered, shrugging her shoulders and settling back on the bed. "Put some clothes on, would you?" she added as she threw Paula a pair of shorts and a track shirt, careful not to let her gaze linger on the ginger for too long, worried about what wild thing she might do if she kept staring.

Conveniently, Paula conceded and grabbed a bath towel from her side of the room, as she sought her way out for a shower. Whatever the mystery box held, she didn't trouble herself finding out. It was most likely for Emily anyway.

Meanwhile, Emily went on opening the package, spotting a tumbler inside, placed with a note.

She held out the elegantly crafted travel mug, taking note of the panoramic photo on it. It displayed a vast field of green shot from top view. On the right side sat a mountain lush with foliage, similar to the ones from the Twilight movies. As much as Emily hates to admit, she, like half of the teenage population of America, was once a die-hard Twilight fan. On the opposite side of the mug were Subalpine Firs and Western White Pines, trees she knew of all too well after doing considerable research on Alice Cullen's hunting grounds. Of course it was neither Edward nor Jacob she obsessed over.

She set her focus back on the box, which now only contained the tumbler cushion and the note.

 _M,_

Emily rolled her eyes, instantly comprehending that it was the blonde player who had sent it, but continued to read anyway.

 _First off, what makes you think I smoke?_

 _Anyway, you must be wondering how this got delivered at your doorstep. You should be interested in finding out, considering I don't even know your real name._

 _Please come by the coffee shop? I haven't seen you. I just wanna chat again, Cinderella._

Emily shook her head in bewilderment, acutely remembering Alison calling her that on the night they sat down.

She continued reading.

 _You were just as captivating, as enchanting, as endearing. Likewise, you left too soon._

"You flirted with someone else too soon," Emily muttered to herself.

 _Come by the shop. Let me at least buy you coffee?_

 _-Alison_

" Little fucker," she whispered to herself as she stood and pulled out a flannel shirt from her dresser.

* * *

"Ristretto for James?" Alison called from the counter, smiling warmly when the middle-aged man claimed his beverage.

Almost right away, her pleasant smile bent into an awkward beam as she found the olive-skinned brunette standing at the entrance. She couldn't quite explain what the brunette was thinking based on the neutral expression she had on her. And she was usually very good at guessing what was going through a person's mind.

Within seconds, she was away from the cashier, walking towards a seemingly thoughtless Emily who just stared at her.

"Hi," Alison greeted feebly, a shy disposition in the air. The last time she saw the other girl, it was evident that the brunette was upset about something, and she could just assume that it was because of the stress that books put on her.

Emily held up her hand that held Alison's note, cluing in the blonde that she had received the package.

"How do you know which dorm I stay in?" Emily asked dead on. Of course it was the one thought that ate away at her, as well as the way the blonde described her as captivating and enchanting and endearing.

"Do I get to save that story for another time?" the blonde asked, hopeful that this isn't the last time they would be speaking. As if she would let it happen.

"No," Emily said without delay, "It's creepy as hell. You don't even know my na-"

"I asked Professor O'Grady. Okay?" Alison cut in.

"Stalker much?" the brunette retorted, though somehow astonished that Alison went out of her way to talk to her professor. Her annoyance towards the blonde anywise subsided.

"Sit down with me?" Alison pleaded.

"I didn't even order."

"Sit down with me anyway?"

"I have class in an hour."

"God dammit, Emily," Alison protested. She herself was taken aback when she said the brunette's name for the first time. In an obscene manner, too.

"What else did O'Grady tell you? My contact number? My parents' names? My test scores?" the brunette uttered coarsely, semantically spewing hate on her professor.

"Take a wild guess," the blonde replied as Emily's temper rose.

"I could have told you my name, Alison."

"Yeah but you didn't, now did you?"

"I was being playful!" the brunette raged, aghast at how affected she was over the situation. And it wasn't because of the fact that Alison practically stalked her, or that she unceasingly smelled like Marlboros all the damn time, or that the blonde just refused to leave her mind since that night.

It was the fact that she had fun for the first time in a long time, and that seeing Alison with someone else scared her, enough to think that maybe – just maybe, it would take her another three years to find that exceptional, instant connection with someone.

"Sit down with me," Alison repeated as she stepped closer, her statement more begging than it was nagging.

"You smell like smoke," the brunette remarked although still quite distressed, a smile tugging on her lips for the first time since she entered the shop.

"Sit down with me anyway."

And she did.


	5. Chapter 5

The rest of Emily's classes on Tuesday had little to no impact on her brain, as Alison had given her no room to think about anything else.

She kept replaying the conversation they had in her head, all of the random stuff she and the blonde talked about - thinking that maybe it wouldn't seem too bad to drop by the coffee shop again later after class.

Pulling out her phone, Emily texted the blonde.

 _Hey, Alison. Hang out later? :) Or do you have night classes?_

She hit send, instantly worrying that she had come off sounding too desperate. The brunette was stripped of her worries when her phone buzzed and displayed Alison's name on the screen.

 _No night classes but if I did, I'd probably skip them anyway to hang out :p_

Emily shifted in her seat, her lips forming a smile. Then again she was conflicted. She knew at the back of her mind that if she went down this road, she could end up on the losing end of things. If there's anything she's learned about relationships, it's that firework hang-outs don't last very long. That's why she would rather resort to meaningless sex. Because it's just sex. Aside from an STD, you're not really risking anything else and putting on baggage.

A lison, however. Something about the girl made her tick. She couldn't exactly put her finger on it, didn't exactly know why she was initially so pissed yet later on too drawn to the girl with fascinating blue eyes and wavy sunrise-gold locks. Maybe it was the way she sported an apron or the way her charming laugh would bounce inside Emily's skull. Whatever it was, Emily was certain she wanted more.

* * *

"Miss DiLaurentis?" Alison's mind snapped back to reality upon hearing her name. It was about an hour past lunch time, and she wanted nothing more than to eat. She had sent out one of her clerks to get her a meal, but her frustration quickly grew after more than forty minutes of waiting.

She turned, eyeing her employee grimly from head to toe. The boy squirmed under his boss' gaze, noticeably nervous about approaching the blonde.

"Check the time, Rasch," she spat, the lanky boy's name rolling bitterly off of her tongue. At the moment, she did not mind who had been watching, be it the customers or the other employees nearby. Reprimanding the lowly worker seemed to fit the crime anyway, so she thought.

The young man visibly swallowed as he handed Alison a paper bag, fingers trembling in dread.

"I'm s-sorry, ma'am. There was a traffic jam," he atoned, jumping slightly when Alison rid his hand of the bag.

She was clearly agitated, but managed to hold in her rage and simply let out a breath of air.

"Get back to work," she dismissed.

With that, the skinny boy disappeared quickly back into the stock room, and Alison began to settle on one of the coffee tables, cursing to herself. It wasn't like it was her usual demeanor. It was more of an impulse, like everyone else – that when she was hungry (and usually she was, due to her absurd work hours), lashing out on her subordinates seemed to be the best action to take.

She undid the foldings of the paper bag, pulling out a packaged meal that she had been dying to wolf down since this morning. She wasn't the biggest fan of breakfast, so it was a usual thing that she'd starve just before lunch time. She looked through the large glass window and sighed absentmindedly as she forked a piece of meat and put it in her mouth.

"Are you really _that_ hungry that the first bite practically brings you to tears?" a familiar voice, which she recognized right away, echoed from beside of her.

"Emily," she snapped her head towards where the brunette stood, her eyes met with Emily's gorgeous physique.

The brunette had on a navy blue v-neck, paired with white jeans that perfectly hugged her legs. The blonde couldn't help but smile at the sight. It was so simple, yet so polished.

She motioned for the other girl to sit in front of her, which the brunette happily advanced.

"Seeing you pissed at your worker is a wee-bit awkward, by the way," the brunette started, peering at what Alison had been eating.

"Oh. That... you saw?" the blonde stumbled over her words, feeling embarrassed that Emily had to see her unprofessional exploit.

The brunette shrugged casually. "Everyone gets on edge from time to time," she smiled reassuringly.

There was an awkward silence. Neither really knew how to recover from the thick atmosphere.

"What are you eating, by the way?" Emily asked.

Alison had then noticed that she stopped eating altogether since Emily had arrived. She poked at one of the cutlets with her fork to avert her attention from the distracting brunette.

"Lamb," she informed as she brought the cutlet into her mouth. She chewed slowly, hoping that she wouldn't have to follow up to fuel the conversation. The thought of Emily seeing her scold an employee still lingered in her mind.

Alison's head was bowed, trying to put her focus on her food instead of the brunette who bore holes into her.

"It's red," the other girl noted.

"It's pretty good," Alison replied unceremoniously, flashing a quick small smile towards the brunette.

"It's _raw_ ," Emily pointed out, Alison finally realizing why the brunette kept staring.

"Blue, actually."

"What?" the brunette asked, evidently confused by Alison's response.

"I mean, not the color blue. Blue as in the food preparation kind of blue. Seared on the outside," Alison explained with a small chuckle.

"Oh."

There was the awkward silence again, this time; both of them had grown tired of it.

The two girls stopped when they spoke simultaneously.

"You kn-"

"So how w- "

"You go first," Emily said, chuckling at what had happened.

"Please," Alison gestured for Emily to talk first, as she had taken a sip of water.

"Alison," the brunette called out, making sure that the blonde was paying full attention to her.

Alison licked her lips dry, "Emily," she imitated, unsure of where the brunette was taking the conversation. However uncanny it came off though, she took pleasure in the fact that she could finally call Emily by her real name and not the fake name she had stuck to since they met.

"How long have you been smoking?" Emily asked, not a trace of cheer on her face. Beyond question, she didn't savor the idea of a lit cigarette on Alison's lips. Aside from the notion that it was unsightly, smoking never really did anyone any good.

The blonde simply chuckled and shook her head.

"I'm serious. You _must_ have an idea about what it does to the body, right?" the brunette added.

"Do tell," Alison challenged, an impish smile tugging on her lips.

"Well, it damages your respiratory tract. Your mouth, your trachea, and everything else that's important slowly suffers. Smoking kills," Emily stated cunningly.

"Emily, smoking doesn't kill. Cancer does. Emphysema does. Smoking? Doesn't," the blonde argued lightheartedly. There was a ring of seriousness to it, because Alison was sure about this one in spite of not being in a life science class.

"And that gives you a reason to gas up your lungs? Which would by the way ultimately lead to cancer or emphysema, like you said," Emily exclaimed.

" _Allegedly_ leads to cancer or emphysema," Alison corrected, grimacing. Emily might have been dead serious on her warnings, but Alison only found it funny that the brunette was way too uptight.

"God, you're stubborn," Emily said as she put her hands up in defeat.

"Only because you're pushy," Alison smiled wide, the dimple on her left cheek on full display – something Emily couldn't help but chuckle at despite her best efforts of putting on a serious face.

"Because you seem so fragile!" Emily laughed, letting go of the debate for the time being.

"Oh, and I suppose you're indestructible," the blonde quipped, sticking her tongue out at the other girl.

And as though she had an epiphany, Emily's smile faltered. Just like that, the mood changed.

What was a fun argument one second turned into a sour moment the next.

"Just stop smoking," she pleaded, reaching out to take Alison's warm hand into hers.


	6. Chapter 6

_Am I all set?_

 _I think so._

 _Let me check my PowerPoint presentation real quick._

 _Okay. All 8 slides._ _Good._

 _God. What is this girl doing to me…_

* * *

Alison ached to ask Emily why she had dragged her across campus only to take her to an empty classroom. It had been a few weeks since they started to regularly hang out in the ever lavish Urban Forest Café. Alison spent most of her time in the shop anyway, and Emily, well; she would cut on minors whenever she got the chance. How far she was willing to go with a girl she was only beginning to know was just beyond her- and regardless of Paula, who she still hooked up with from time to time.

Emily clutched her laptop, repositioning her grip as she led Alison through a hallway towards a currently unused room.

Inside, she asked the blonde to sit on one of the chairs.

Alison, who was rather intrigued by what Emily was up to, opted to stand and look around the room. The whiteboard held a lot of writing, most of which were about hypertension.

"What class was being taught here this morning?" the blonde asked, her eyes roaming.

"Clinical Pharmacology," Emily answered as she placed her laptop on the desk and booted it up.

There was a fairly comfortable silence between the two as Alison shuffled towards the brunette, standing a few inches away to take a peek at Emily's laptop. The brunette however, took none of it and faced the computer away from the nosy blonde.

Alison sighed and crossed her arms, wishing that Emily would just tell her why they were there.

The brunette only smiled smugly at her.

A few seconds more of fumbling with projector wires and power sockets, Emily was taken aback when the blonde spoke up.

"Emily, shouldn't this be the part where we kiss?" Alison uttered quite seriously.

Emily's fingers tripped up and felt the need to clear her throat. She tried to hide her blushing face by pulling her face closer to the computer screen, as if trying to read a very tiny piece of text.

"You wish, Alison," she answered back, forcing a laugh out of her lungs.

"Oh I do, princess," Alison coaxed, leveling her face with the flustered brunette's, "don't try to challenge me."

Emily shook her head and pulled away from the unsettling proximity the blonde had placed between them.

"Ready? You really should sit," she told Alison, deliberately ignoring the fact that Alison practically begged for a kiss.

Of course, the past few weeks were incredibly magical. Almost every moment sent butterflies to Emily's stomach. She had craved for every platonic second to just turn into something romantic, just like in the movies. It was odd, and she knew she was completely out of character when it came to Alison, but somehow she just didn't care. Something about those endearing eyes and incredible charisma… The way Alison DiLaurentis worked her charms was a total mystery.

Pulled back into reality, she heard the blonde complain under her breath.

"What is this about, anyway?" Alison asked nonchalantly, finally giving into Emily's request for her to sit.

 _Slide 1_

The screen presented in big bold letters the words "The Dangers of Smoking" and Emily's name on the bottom right corner of the page.

The blonde scoffed. Before she could even react further, Emily changed the slides and began lecturing her on the "detrimental effects of regular smoke inhalation" and showed her multiple slides that contained images of gangrene, oral and neck cancers, gum diseases and the like – all caused by smoking excessively.

Alison shook her head in disbelief, holding back a chuckle. Amusing as the blonde found it, she also felt a little disheartened that Emily tried so hard to get her to quit smoking. She knew, after all, that the brunette's efforts of ridding her from cigarette stench were never going to work anyway.

"Alison," Emily waved a hand in front of the blonde's face, "Are you even listening?"

"Of course," the other girl replied with a sincere smile.

"So….?"

"Sorry, what?"

Alison was definitely _not_ paying attention to Emily's presentation. She was too lost in her own thoughts of Emily and how she wished Emily would just stop wasting energy.

"What are you gonna do about it?" Emily asked idly.

"Look," Alison shifted in her seat and ultimately decided to stand and stride towards the brunette, "The stuff you put on your slides won't happen to me, Emily."

The blonde tried her best to reassure Emily, maintaining stern eye contact with the weary girl.

Alison moved closer, hoping an overwhelmingly close proximity and unwavering eye contact would get her point across.

"Stop worrying about me," the blonde added, her sight fixated on the beautiful girl in front of her.

"This… it's not…" Emily struggled for words, her mind once again clouded with longing. Longing for contact with Alison's luscious lips and her own hands against the blonde's waist. If only Alison would lean in a little closer…

"I mean," Alison spoke again, their mouths practically touching, "I don't think you've ever even seen me smoke."

"I haven't," Emily managed to hum, her eyes wandering Alison's pink lips.

"So why would you assume," Alison swallowed, "that.."

Without thought, Emily brought herself to meet Alison's mouth. The blonde instinctively closed her eyes and responded with a low, mellow whimper. It was barely there until Alison decided she needed more, pulling the brunette closer and picking up the pace, deepening the kiss as the seconds ticked.

Alison thought the kiss was wildly inappropriate to act out in a classroom, but holy hell was it intense. All sense of time was lost until the door suddenly swung open, displaying a very seemingly surprised professor.

Emily quickly pulled away from Alison's hold and packed up her stuff faster than the professor could even speak.

Quite the opposite, Alison froze from where she stood, not knowing how to recover from the situation.

As soon as Emily finished tidying up, she took the blonde by the hand and led her out of the room, willfully acknowledging the Allied Science professor.

"Ms. Forinder," Emily mumbled as they reached the doorway. She kept her head low, sorry that the professor had seen them.

"Miss Fields," Forinder acknowledged in return, nodding at Emily. The professor's demeanor changed when Alison walked past her, the blonde's eyes avoiding the teacher's hard features. "Miss DiLaurentis," the professor said, a hint of vex rolling off of her tongue.

Emily felt Alison tense up as her grip on the brunette's hand tightened. Nonetheless, Alison managed to nod back at the teacher despite the tension.

The couple walked across the hall, eventually getting out of sight.

* * *

At the Urban Forest Cafe

"Well wasn't that just crazy," Emily uttered after some time, chuckling at the thought of being caught red handed, "I wonder what my mom would say if she found out," she added jokingly.

"Yeah," Alison replied with a blank expression.

The brunette quickly noticed Alison's changed disposition, "Hey, it was just Ms. Forinder. I'm sure we weren't the first pair she's caught. I bet she's seen loads of kids do that."

"Yeah, maybe," the blonde replied, her face still lacking emotion.

"Hey," Emily called out, "You okay?"

Initially she thought it was because of the kiss, that Alison must have found it incredibly awkward that one second they were talking and the next they were locking lips. If was their first kiss, after all, although the moment was a little ruined. But she quickly let go of that theory when Alison shook her head and a tear fell from her eye.

"Dad's gonna kill me," the blonde answered impassively, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey, Forinder's not gonna tell. Plus, it's not like we were naked or anything," Emily pushed.

"No, you don't understand," Alison looked Emily dead in the eye, "Forinder knows I'm not allowed to… I mean, she knows my dad."

"So?" Emily asked, not following Alison's statements at all.

"Forinder doesn't take things like this lightly."

"Yeah, right, because Ms Forinder, the student body's favorite Biology professor doesn't let public displays of affection slide," Emily retorted in sarcasm. She couldn't get why Alison was so upset that they were caught kissing in an empty classroom.

For a moment, Emily considered the idea that Alison was ashamed of _her_ , but all thoughts of irrationality halted when the blonde unexpectedly shook her head and walked out of the shop without a word, leaving an awfully confused brunette wondering wildly to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

_Please call me back as soon as you get this, Alison._

Emily locked her phone screen after she texted Alison for about the hundredth time, each one sounding more desperate than the one before.

She had never felt so lost about a girl before.

One second they were kissing and everything was great up until it turned sour.

And she didn't think it was because maybe Alison thought she was a bad kisser. The brunette was just profoundly confused as to why the blonde smoker walked out just as it was getting good. As though the professor had something to do with it.

Her phone buzzed, and she couldn't have felt more relieved when Alison's name flashed on the screen.

 _Too bummed to come outside. Meet at my place?_ _–Ali_

In haste, Emily replied, asking for details on how to get to Alison's dorm room. It only took the blonde a few seconds to answer.

 _Crest Hall, 407 – Gold Wing._

* * *

To Emily, it was a long walk, considering the highly probable awkwardness either of them would present. The spacious halls of the dormitory gave her time to think about what she would say.

As she treaded the building's east wing, she couldn't help but notice how posh it seemed. Inadvertently, Emily felt severely underdressed – sporting skinny jeans, a white shirt that wrote "Phelps" on it, and a pair of chucks. She looked to the wall on her right and saw a framed piece of artwork. It was a thin prism of wood with burn holes that depicted the image of a war horse. To its left was a painting, intricately crafted, she thought, because of the varying textures it displayed.

" _Oh this is the Gold Wing, alright,"_ she thought to herself, timidly feeling the texture of the carpeted walls around the doorway of room 407.

She thought twice about knocking, trying to mull over if she should just go back to her dorm and wait things out some more, but the brunette ultimately decided to just get it over with.

It didn't take long for Alison to get the door, swinging it all the way open and greeting Emily with a blank face.

"Come on in," the blonde gestured and gave way to Emily.

Emily was hesitant, taking in the idea that this was an unconventional, and not to mention awkward way of entering a girl's apartment. She always had her mind set on barging into someone's room as they made out torridly, just like in the movies.

This was _not_ like the movies.

The air was thick with silence and filled with the all too familiar smell of stale cigarettes that was Alison DiLaurentis. The scent of the room made her heart race, bringing her back to that empty classroom where she and the blonde first shared a kiss, where she had first matched the smell with the taste.

"Em?" Alison cut her reverie short.

The brunette turned to face her as she gave her a yearning look.

"Sit down, Em," the blonde added, emotion in her voice still undetectable.

Emily looked around. As expected, Alison's unit was way too big for a student. Unless of course the heiress had a roommate. Not doubtful, she thought. The place was too messy. Alison couldn't possibly be so disorganized. The light was dimmed down and gave the room a lazy feel. There were too many trinkets lying around, most of which were gold-plated coins. It was weird, but she thought maybe Alison had a knack for collecting coins excluded from the American monetary unit. If only they were arranged in stacks and not wedged in the sofa cushions and on table surfaces.

Upon entrance, the kitchen was the first thing one would notice. While it was tidy, it seemed sad to see not even a full set of plates. There were only three. Back home, there was only Emily and her mom, but Pam Fields frequently had people over. Lonely was far from the crowd she was born into. Which begs the question: Did Alison live alone in such a big house? If so, how could she cope with the isolation?

Alison walked past the dining table and towards the living room, where a seemingly prestigious couch laid. Emily followed.

"Ali, do you… do you live alone?" she asked, not putting up with the silence any longer. She needed – nay, _wanted_ to know more about this girl, how she was so open one minute and so mysterious the next. The room had to be at least a hundred square meters, and everything was the shade of light brown and dark yellow and gold – such a sophisticated design for their age. "Did you pick out the swatches, too? It's all so…" Emily stopped and thought of the right word as she toyed with one of the coins sitting by the window, "…. relaxing."

The blonde sat down on the couch and pulled a standing Emily by the belt loop. Clearly, she had other things in mind besides talking. She was smiling now, and though it was faint, anyone could tell that the brunette made her feel as tranquil as the walls could do.

Alison's finger curled around the waistband of Emily's jeans, her other hand resting on the brunette's waist. Emily felt Alison pulling her closer and so complied by taking a step forward, positioning herself atop the blonde's thighs.

As she straddled the blonde, Emily took in the sight of their position and how incredibly sexy the smoker was without even trying. She placed a hand around the side of the blonde's neck and slowly pressed her lips onto Alison's. It started composed, just a light touch of the lips, until gradually Alison's tongue edged at the brunette's teeth, begging for entrance. Emily gasped slightly, and immediately the blonde's tongue swept in, gaining control. It had become heated in a matter of seconds, and eventually lips parted to catch air.

Alison's hand came up and cupped Emily's blushing cheek, her thumb running across the brunette's lower lip, blue eyes piercing through brown.

"What?" Emily nudged Alison's shoulder playfully, wondering what the blonde was thinking.

No answer. Only the same blank expression from earlier.

The brunette's demeanor changed when the silence dragged on for a few more seconds.

"You think this is a mistake," Emily's words echoed painfully in her own head. Even more so in Alison's.

The blonde's hold on Emily's waist tightened, wrapping her arm securely around the swimmer as she felt Emily struggle to release from her grasp.

"Don't go," Alison said as she reached for the brunette's face, but was only quickly countered by Emily evading her touch. Ultimately Alison let her grip loose, allowing Emily to stand and compose herself.

"What's on your mind?" Emily spat out.

"I'm not allowed to date, Em."

"What are you, twelve? Jesus."

The blonde was taken aback by Emily's snide remark and replied with an equally sarcastic line, "Nineteen. Thanks for the compliment, though," she rolled her eyes.

"God. I really like you, Ali."

The blonde exhaled before speaking again, "I'm not allowed to but I really like you too."

" _Tangina_ ," Emily whispered to herself. Alison could've sworn it wasn't English.

"Emily," Alison said, as if pleading.

"I gotta go, Ali. I can't deal with this right now," the brunette ended. And with that, she was out of the room in seconds.


	8. Chapter 8

"I seriously have to stop playing house with you."

"Can you, though?" the redhead dared mischievously as her tongue danced against Emily's center, "Can you really?"

Emily jerked, Paula's tongue suddenly too much for her to bear as her orgasm hit. She gripped the sheets, holding back a moan that would've been heard rooms away if she hadn't. In the dead of night on a weekday, it was quite smart.

"Paula, I need your help," Emily breathed out right after the high subsided. Her eyes were closed and the back of her hand was pressed against her forehead.

"You literally just came," Paula joked, settling next to the brunette.

Emily opened her eyes and hit her roommate lightly on the arm, "I'm serious," she said in between chuckles.

It was astounding how their relationship proved to be so casual. Emily knew they were only having fun and that it was highly likely that someone was eventually going to be on the losing end one day, but Paula never asked for more. Neither did Emily. At the time, it was the perfect friendship. Blowing off steam whenever it was needed.

"What is it?" the redhead propped her head up on her elbow.

"I need you to wingman for me."

Paula's eyes lit up and she smiled, "Wow. Look at you trying your luck at dating."

The brunette scoffed, "It's more getting back at someone,"

"Do I get to play the jealous girlfriend?" Paula winked at Emily.

"No, you get a better part."

"What's better than the jealous girlfriend?"

"You're the hot roommate full of sexual innuendo," Emily answered, sitting up and throwing a shirt on before sauntering back to her side of the room.

"Oooh. Daring," the other girl remarked, eyes wandering down the swimmer's behind.

"Will you do it?"

"But don't I already play that part?" Paula said as she tucked loose strands of hair behind her ear.

"We don't exactly let people know, do we?" Emily said, wrapping a towel around her waist.

The younger girl, finding it surprising, sat up and turned her night light on. "Wow, Emily. Who's this mystery girl and why are you suddenly so willing to soil your image to make her jealous?"

"Just some rich girl with daddy issues," the brunette mumbled, almost as though she were trying to convince herself more than she was trying to convince Paula.

"If she _were_ just that, shouldn't she be totally not worth all the acting?"

Paula had too many questions for Emily to process. And it wasn't that she couldn't answer all of them, it was that she didn't _want_ to. She didn't want to think about Alison DiLaurentis pulling the I-can't-date card on her, much less talk about it with her fuck buddy. It was messed up, and the fact that Alison was making up an excuse to not go out with her just baffled her on so many levels. She really thought they had a good thing going.

"Will you help me or not?" Emily asked in a demanding tone, though her eyes were begging for it.

"It's a pretty rash decision, Em," Paula began, "But since it's you who's asking.. I guess I'm game."

T he brunette's facial expression changed, smiling as she sighed. "Great. Because we start tonight. Get dressed."

* * *

As Emily anticipated, Alison's shop was still open. And of course, hands-on as a responsible owner would be, the blonde was there, working the register as she did regularly.

Their plan couldn't be more perfect, the swimmer thought. Hatching one with the idea of getting a rise out of Alison was just too easy. Emily would walk in first, order her usual Americano, sit in the shop for a while until Alison comes up to her and starts talking [because obviously in her opinion, it's _her_ who deserves to hear an explanation]. This is when Paula would show up, overtly flirting as she reminds Emily that she had left her phone on Paula's desk. The implications couldn't be more explicit. Alison would definitely be pissed.

Only what seemed to be such a grand plan didn't go quite as well.

"Emily," Alison remarked, a smile of anxiety on her lips showing when she saw the brunette walk through the café entrance.

Emily nodded her head in response and pretended to pick out something from the menu board to avoid looking at the blonde.

" _This seems to be harder than I thought,"_ the brunette said to herself. " _Any time now, Paula._ "

"Whatever you're getting, it's on the house," Alison insisted almost too desperately. She tried to graze her hand against Emily's, but the brunette drew it back as soon as she felt the contact.

Emily could feel the blonde's eyes boring through her, but of course, she fought hard against the urge to weep and just let her pride wash away – to just hear out the girl who was practically begging to be heard. Of course, she felt she had to hurt her back. She _wanted_ to hurt her back. Like Alison had hurt her.

Meanwhile, perfectly on cue came storming in the redhead who would help her do exactly just that.

"Em!" Paula greeted as practiced, placing herself in a very awfully close proximity to the brunette.

Alison turned her attention to the chirpy girl who had just come in, forcing a smile as though it was fooling anyone.

"Hey. I thought you were going to sleep?"

"Yeah, but your phone wouldn't shut up. I think you set a reminder or something. Kept going off on my be-" Paula stopped as soon as she realized she had almost said 'bed' instead of 'desk'.

Emily's eyes grew wide but quickly wiped off the expression on her face, "Your bedside table. Of course," she followed up as she tried to play it casually.

It was a deafening silence that followed, until Emily cleared her throat and finally turned to Alison.

"I'll have an Americano and she…" the flustered brunette glanced fleetingly at Paula and tried to come up with a random order, pretending she knew what the redhead's regular drink was. "She'll have an Iced Vanilla Latte."

Paula giggled flirtatiously, as rehearsed, and quickly placed a bill on the counter. Before Alison could protest, Emily had already walked toward the exit, expecting Paula to pick up their order before finally leaving the shop together. However it took quite a while for the latte to be prepared and Emily mentally kicked herself for picking a beverage that took too long to process. All she wanted to do was flaunt her hot roommate, but instead she was stuck here, atmosphere filled with awkwardness, and it was about to get worse.

The brunette turned to the twosome and found them conversing casually, as though Alison had managed to shrug off the last five minutes. The blonde had on a relatively friendly look. Paula had a smile on too; however, it registered to Emily as more of barring teeth rather than a smile. Like Paula was getting ready for a fight. Maybe she was.

Emily walked back towards the counter, not even bothering to hide the fact that she wanted to know what the two were talking about. Paula strode a slow circle around the shop, inspecting the design of the place.

"The interior color is awful," Paula jeered, looking Alison straight in the eye. "Green and brown? Seriously? That's dull."

" _Holy crap,"_ Emily thought to herself as her jaw dropped. _"This was so not rehearsed."_

"Order up," Alison interjected, her face unreadable.

Paula took the two cups from Alison's hands, and for a split second, Emily saw the spite in Paula's eyes. And Alison just stood there, like she couldn't [or didn't even _want_ to] return the almost murderous stare Paula had been throwing her way.

" Em, let's go," the redhead said sternly, like spending a minute more in the Urban Café would result in a cat fight.

* * *

"Out of _all_ the girls in this campus, you just had to pick Ken DiLaurentis' daughter, didn't you?" the disgruntled redhead ranted as they walked back to their dorm.

"What? Is it so hard to believe that I could get someone like her?" Emily questioned, unsure as to why Paula was so disconcerted. "Calm down and drink your five-dollar latte."

Paula chuckled sarcastically and poured the contents of her coffee cup onto the nearest potted plant.

"I'm not drinking _that_ ," she said in a disgusted tone that Emily missed.

"Why are you so upset?" Emily stopped in her tracks and demanded an answer, "Is she _that_ much out of my league you think it's stupid?"

Paula shook her head and sighed, "Someone like her shouldn't even be friends with you, Em."


	9. Chapter 9

Days rolled by. No calls, no texts. Nothing from the blonde. Maybe she really didn't want to be seen out with Emily after all. If Paula and Emily hadn't been going at the fake relationship for the past few days, it was like Alison never knew Emily in the first place. Sure, Alison had been stealing glances here and there, but never enough to assume that she actually got jealous of Paula.

When the swimmer woke on a Friday morning, something was off.

It was her night light. She flicked the off switch as soon as she had realized she left it on during the remainder of the night. The brunette sat up to peek at her digital clock. _5:34 AM._ She groaned.

She fell asleep studying, which, to her dismay, caused her to bear weight on her notes that were now crumpled on the side. She'd been losing sleep, too. Paula was nowhere to be found and she wondered where the redhead could've gone at 5:30 in the morning.

Emily searched erratically under her pillow, feeling around for her phone. When she failed to find it, she checked the floor. It was there and for the first time she had moved into her dorm, she felt grateful that the floor was carpeted. She must have been tossing so much in her sleep that it ended up there.

" _Where the hell are you?"_ she typed after picking it up from the floor.

She didn't want to come to _any_ of her classes today, and it worried her. It wasn't that Friday just felt like such a lazy day to basically everyone, or that both of her classes today were boring. If she was being completely honest with herself, it would have been because it seems that her and Paula's fake relationship was getting her absolutely nowhere with Alison. How long did she have to drag it out before Alison finally puts down her walls and just goes for it?

" _Science library. But last time I checked, it was YOU who was cramming for a quiz that's supposedly today. Did you manage to get anything in at all? Or were you just not putting out last night because you weren't in the mood?"_

" _A bit too early for that, don't you think?"_ the brunette typed back, trying hard not to think about Paula's constant pleads for attention the night before.

" _Never too early for your sweet pussy, Em ;)"_

Emily rolled her eyes but chuckled anyway, noting how ridiculously flirtatious Paula could get even if it was just the two of them.

" _Damn you. Come back to bed."_

Paula took a long moment to reply, as Emily was just beginning to doze off again.

" _Why don't you come and get me? I've been feeling the exhibitionist vibe lately anyway ;)"_

" _You're crazy._

…

…

 _I'll be there in five."_

It was getting out of hand. Emily knew that. But what started out to be a game of dirty texting, of course, just had to lead to some higher form of sexual activity, as per usual.

She got to the library within five minutes like she had told the redhead.

Walking in, she was greeted by the librarian, who regularly unlocks the doors at five AM every day – even on Sundays and holidays. She admired the middle-aged woman for constantly being on time. Which was why even though Emily was tempted to take up Paula's offer on spewing lust in the library, she was also conflicted because the library was certainly _not_ a place to disrespect.

Emily looked around, spotting the redhead almost immediately. While it was still quite dark out, the library was always well-lit (except for the book shelf area at the end of the hall where students frequently made out).

There was already a number of students busily reading away at their textbooks, though some of them only seemed to be there for the serene space.

Paula waved at the brunette, motioning for her to sit down.

"Of course you chose this table," Emily remarked as she settled in the seat in front of Paula.

The table was almost completely out of sight of the librarian and the other students, being placed furthest from the entrance.

"I figured we should take things slow. It is my first time, after all," the redhead said, her eyes scanning Emily's chest.

"And you think _I've_ done this before?" Emily asked almost too sharply. Clearly she was on edge about getting caught.

"Relax, would you?" the other girl cooed as she brushed her knee against Emily's inner thigh.

The brunette didn't protest, but cautiously kept an eye out.

"This is so wrong," she whispered when Paula moved closer to her center. The swimmer could feel her fingernails dig into the wooden surface of the table as the other girl worked torturously slow. She was just about ready to grind against the redhead's knee but was met with disappointment when Paula sat straight back up.

Instinctively, Emily sat up instantly as well, assuming that Paula had seen someone looking. She searched the younger girl's face for any indication, but only saw a devilish smile playing on her lips.

Emily sat frustrated, struggling to fight back the urge to fuck her roommate atop the table, when she heard an unfamiliar noise and felt the atmosphere suddenly heat up.

The surroundings turned humid, quickly escalating to becoming a deadly cloud of suffocating smoke before she realized that the far end of the library was engulfed in flames. She looked around, panicked. The other students scrambled out of their seats, picking up their stuff and running out of the door as fast as their legs took them.

At the corner of her eye she saw Paula stand, desperately trying to drive away the smoke. The fire spread quick, but the smoke spread even quicker. And they had to sprint quite far to get to the library entrance.

"Emily, come on!" Paula yelled, almost too muffled to understand because of the screams and the crackling noises of everything the fire had rapidly swallowed.

A plentiful amount of smoke gathered in Emily's throat as she gasped for clean air. She coughed; Paula guided their way through the library, trying to get out.

 _Help._

At first Emily thought it was her head starting to turn on her. But the voice rang out again.

Had it not been because of someone crying for help, the pair would've already been out of the building safely.

It was a bloodcurdling scream of a boy repeatedly yelling the words _help me._

Paula gripped Emily's wrist hard, as if begging not to come back for a hopeless case. The redhead had seen him from afar though her eyes watered heavily. She knew Emily barely had any air left to run, much less save a burning body.

"He's dead, Em!" Emily heard Paula shout. It registered like a low buzz to her, as the lack of oxygen in her lungs began to take effect. She could feel Paula dragging her out of the now burning halls. Her legs buckled from underneath her as she felt her eyes sting.

The second her and Paula exited the building, Emily dropped to the floor and retched heavily. Nothing moved in slow motion, she thought. The rush allowed her to absorb everything in clear detail.

For some unknown reason stood next to the burning building was Alison DiLaurentis, watching in utter shock, her eyes drifting from the burning building to Emily. Her alluring face stood out from the rest, all having the same look of fear and grief. Of bigger concern, however, was Emily's observation of how red the blonde's eyes were, much like it was the morning she skipped O'Grady's class – only several shades of red worse. Where white should have been was red that could never be mistaken for pinkeye. Emily was sure of it. It was like Alison wore contact lenses that burned in her irides and damaged her eyes. And it was odd that she saw it all in dim light.

Had Alison been in the library? Or was it just Emily's mind playing tricks on her?

The bystanders and the ones who had escaped the fire stood helpless even in the presence of campus police and EMT's, who arrived shortly after the fire began. In the turmoil where some students continuously cried _Michael_ , presumably the name of the boy that didn't make it out, and despite her poor physical state at the moment, Emily could hear Alison's footsteps and later her charming yet worried voice.

"Emily," the blonde breathed, crouching down to stroke the swimmer's back and kiss her temple.

"I couldn't breathe in there, Ali," Emily croaked. Her attempt at sitting up was backed by Alison's steady arms.

"Shhh. You're safe," Alison murmured as she whispered sweet nothings into Emily's ear.

The brunette rubbed her eyes, trying to clear her vision.

When she looked at Alison, the red she saw earlier was completely gone, as though she had been hallucinating the entire time.

She looked around, searching for Paula, or at least someone else to vouch for whatever she saw, but found no one nearby. Paula had been communicating with an EMT a few yards away, though she eyed the pair every now and then.

"They're gonna check your airways for soot, but they're not going to find anything. That's how this thing works," Alison said with such conviction which Emily found strange. "I'll be right here the whole time."

Paula interrupted with a quick remark, "I can take it from here."

For a split second Emily thought she saw Alison glare at the redhead, but it was too quick for her to make any assumptions. She sat with her confusion as the medical technician performed standard operating procedure on her.

When the blonde refused to take Paula's hint, she spoke again bitterly, "Go back to your golden house, you mid-class brat."

Alison tensed. To which set of words, Emily couldn't be sure. Paula called Alison mid-class, a brat, and told her to go home to her "golden house" – all of which made it sound as though Paula and Alison go way back. Way before either of them had met Emily. And it somehow made sense, because Paula never failed to show her hatred towards Ken DiLaurentis' daughter, or Ken DiLaurentis himself.

Emily kept to herself, vowing that she'd pry the truth out of them pretty soon.


	10. Chapter 10

Emily rested her head on the arm rest of the couch, lightly tugging on the blanket that bundled by her legs.

"I got it," Toby remarked, eyeing his friend whose eyes lazily darted the almost inaudible television set. He unknotted the fabric, laying it over the brunette's legs and torso.

It had been exactly 26 hours since the fire broke out in the university library and claimed the life of a student. Toby understood that while Emily didn't know the victim personally, it was still extremely traumatic to see a burning body. And obviously, not having enough energy to save that person would take a toll on your emotions, much like how Emily projected as she lay on the couch, Toby resting by her feet.

"So that girl I told you about wants a third date," Toby said, trying to make light conversation. Anything to take Emily's mind off of the incident.

"Cool," she whispered, not meeting his eyes.

"Her name's Spencer. She's taking Political Theory," he continued.

"That's nice," Emily ended.

She had been lethargic since she got out of the building. Toby was certain that the medical team cleared her of any physical conditions. She was just too down, is all. That was why he swore he would take care of her in the absence of Paula – the redhead's whereabouts was a mystery even to Emily. The freshman left a couple of texts and even left a voicemail to assure Emily that she was alright. It was, however, quite odd that she decided to disappear after such a traumatic experience. Paula was there with her too. She saw everything Emily saw but somehow, she didn't seem to take in the events like Emily did. For all the brunette knew, Paula was on a beach somewhere taking a break from the stressful occasion that went down yesterday. A burning question, though, was why Paula didn't seem to be fazed by it at all. How, amidst all of that, did Paula have the audacity to decorate her texts with emojis and make her voicemail seem as though it were just a normal day? How was she… alright?

Emily sat up to the thought, growing frustrated at how heartless Paula seemed. For a while it even registered to the brunette that maybe her roommate was celebrating the fact that somebody had died.

She quickly reached for her bag on the floor and sprawled its contents across the coffee table in front of her. Toby sat up straight, observing his friend's quick change in demeanor – eyeing Emily as she rang for Paula.

It was obvious that the mood had shifted from gloom to being pissed as Emily's thought process brought her to conclude that Paula in fact did _not_ give a single fuck about the events the past day.

"Where. Are. You." Emily spoke clearly after her roommate said _hello_.

There was a short silence on the line before Paula replied, "Somewhere up north." She sounded guilty, assuming that Emily moved past her traumatized state and just wanted to blame someone for a student's death.

"What? Are you in New York?" the brunette pushed, standing up and grabbing her wallet, shoving it in her back pocket as she headed for the door. Paula may have mentioned once or twice that she had family in Manhattan, so naturally that was where Emily thought she had gone – for whatever reason.

She heard the redhead huff over the phone, "higher up north. I'm not telling where exactly. I'm not supposed to."

"You're not making any fucking sense, Paula," Emily quickly retorted, sending Toby a look that said she was going out for air. Toby motioned to his chest then pointed towards Emily, non-verbally asking if she wanted him to come with. The swimmer mouthed a _no thanks_ before heading out.

"Emily, I'm at an important event. What do you want," Paula spat. Emily could hear the muffled dispute that went on wherever it was Paula had gone.

The redhead's answer still did not shed any light as to her where she was, but Emily rolled her eyes and shrugged it off as she let her legs take her to the familiar place she had grown fond of.

The Urban Café came into sight and the idea of at least seeing Alison somewhat minimally lightened her mood.

"I just want to know how you're okay with what happened yesterday," she admitted, unashamedly sounding miserable.

" _Okay_? You think I'm okay after seeing our library burn and witness a kid die? Emily, how cruel do you think I am?" the girl on the other line seemed offended as the background quieted. She must have stepped out of the room.

Emily immediately regretted lashing out and exhaled through her mouth, "Look, I just don't see how you're coping. I couldn't even bring myself to come to Ms. Forinder's class today."

She heard the other girl scoff and thought she whispered something along the lines of _"she's not there anyway"._

Paula sighed, "I'm doing something about it, okay? Stop thinking that I'm some sort of free spirited bitch who doesn't give a shit because I do. I really do. So much so that I took a break from that stupid campus to actually do _something_ good."

Emily furrowed her brows, finally reaching the café and pushing the door open.

What Paula said was just too cryptic for the swimmer. Did she meet up with a shrink? Why was the other line so loud just a minute ago? And what did she mean when she said that she was _doing something about it?_ Clearly, Emily wanted answers and seeing as Paula wouldn't give her anything remotely close to an explanation as to where she was or what she was up to, she opted to say her goodbyes and hang up on the redhead. Talking with her only fueled her already emotionally charged state.

"Miss Fields," a scrawny boy from behind the register greeted. _Rasch_ , she believed was his name. She remembers him from that day Alison ate red – or rather _blue_ lamb for lunch. She'd also seen him several times every time she went to buy coffee. He always seemed stressed out when Alison was around, but given that Alison didn't seem to be there at the moment (much to Emily's dismay), the short boy seemed to be at ease.

"Hi there," she replied with a half-hearted smile. They both knew why she was there but before she could ask, Rasch beat her to it.

"Miss Dilaurentis took the day off," he said with a friendly smile, adjusting the glasses that sat on the bridge of his nose.

The shop wasn't completely deserted, but the time of day definitely accounted for the lack of customers. At 7:41 AM, she was surprised there were even people who weren't in class.

She feigned confusion and chuckled, "Ali? Who said I was looking for her? I'm here to order the usual."

The timid boy laughed along, "Alright, miss, but I know you're joking about miss Dilaurentis. Everyone knows you're not just here for the coffee."

She laughed, momentarily forgetting the reason for her bad mood earlier. It was surprising, how just the mere thought of the bubbly blonde sends a blush to her cheeks.

She and Ali haven't really talked since Paula dismissed Alison the other day, and Alison set off walking like she had just lost a bet after Paula basically told her to fuck off.

She indulged in the idea that Alison was there on the very moment she escaped the building and needed to breathe. She relished the fact that the blonde embraced her and peppered kisses on her temples, a much awaited gesture after days and days of pretense – after spending so much time making Alison jealous of the firecracker that was Paula Avery. Sure, it took her a relatively long wait and such an odd circumstance before Alison was looking her in the eye again, but it was worth all the trouble. She was about ready to pick up from where they left off – to sort out whatever issues Alison had, and just _be._ She liked the blonde too much to even question things. The weird stuff could come after, she thought.

"You wouldn't happen to know where she is, would you?" she asked as she received the coffee from the boy and handed him the payment.

"Uhm, I'm not really at liberty to discuss that, miss Fields," he pried his eyes off of the brunette shyly as he worked the cash register.

"Rasch, call me Emily, would you?" she sent him a sympathetic smile, silently wishing that he would give up information.

"O-okay, Emily," he smiled timidly, handing Emily her change, "b-but I'm still not telling."

"Tsk," the swimmer sighed and stared at the pale boy, "Not even a little clue?" she pouted, his choice of words striking a chord since " _not telling"_ sounded absurdly similar to Paula's words earlier.

Rasch seemed to weigh his options as he fumbled with the register

"Why don't you text her? Or call her? Yes, calling would be better, I assume," he said – the latter part of the sentence mostly to himself.

"See, I would. If you didn't keep things so secret. She told you not to tell, didn't she?" Emily voiced out the question on her mind. What difference would it have made if Alison herself didn't want to be found at the moment? Maybe she was in class, maybe she wasn't. Maybe she was sulking at Paula's words, which by the way still boggled Emily.

It was triggering how both Paula _and_ Ali were seemingly hiding from her. At this point she wouldn't be surprised if her own _mother_ was hiding from her.

She sighed in defeat, making one last ditch effort to make the lowly worker tell her where Alison was, "Does she always give you a hard time? You tell me because I will whoop her ass, Rasch," she said in a joking manner.

He laughed nervously as he prayed for another customer to come up queue. Nothing.

"If it's all the same to you, miss," Rasch took a deep breath, sensing the anticipation of the brunette, "I wouldn't want you to know that I flew to Nunavut either."

Emily's joking nature suddenly dissipated as the boy's words registered in her mind.

"Nunavut? In Canada?" she asked for confirmation, her brows meeting as she mulled the information over.

"Please don't tell her I told you," Rasch's eyes begged, "Please."

"I won't. Thanks, Rasch," she said blankly as she moved to exit the café. Her thoughts were in a haze walking back to her room.

Something was definitely up.

Paula being _up north_ and Alison being in Canada on the same day? Was it illogical to think that maybe they shared the same location? Both of them elected to _not_ tell her. Both of them seemed to be on edge around one another. Most importantly, both of them led back to _her_. There was no way she's passing up on finding answers this time.


	11. Chapter 11

Emily hung onto every word that the dean was saying. She took in his defeated stance. It was evident that he was down too.

They were at the auditorium in the Arts and Science building – where a large gathering of students was taking place.

"The other day we received sad news about the tragic death of Michael Hansen, a pupil in his third year. The loss of this diligent member of our school community is a very difficult time for us all."

The swimmer shifted in her seat, trying to get comfortable even when she knew that she wouldn't be able to relax even if she finished a whole joint (not that she did that anyway). At the corner of her eye, she saw Paula sitting a few seats away, next to the rest of the nursing department, sending her knowing glances.

Emily placed her attention back to the dean.

"In response to this disastrous incident, the school has teamed up with state police to shed light on those who mourn. According to the reports, the fire was brought on by burdened electrical connections that ultimately led to the rapid spread of the flames and the smoke that asphyxiated Michael before his body was recovered. A line from the fluorescents sent…."

She thought she had heard enough and tuned out the rest of the dean's statement. Emily closed her eyes and laid her head back, trying to at least not throw up to what she was hearing.

"But what do _you_ think, Dean Adamson?" Paula's voice echoed antagonistically through the auditorium, turning heads towards her direction. The brunette's eyes flew open as she looked to Paula as well, unsure as to where the redhead was taking this.

"Excuse me, miss Avery?" the dean uttered.

"Sure, they say it was electrical. I'll take their word for it. But doesn't it take more than just a day to investigate whether or not there was foul play?"

The room buzzed as many whispered among themselves. Paula was playing a scandalous game. The brunette could only stare at what seemed to be an awkward exchange between the dean and her roommate as Dean Anderson failed to provide answers. He was after all, just as in the dark as the students were. The investigation was still on-going as he had stated, but Paula only seemed to push further.

"I mean who _isn't_ here right now? Let's see, the librarian, who's probably down at the precinct being questioned," Paula scoffed before continuing her venom-filled rant, "I say, maybe they should question people who were at the scene but _weren't_ in the library."

Emily's jaw dropped when she realized that Paula was referring to the blonde. Alison wasn't at the auditorium, thankfully. Chaos would definitely ensue had she decided to attend. Oddly enough, Alison texted Emily earlier that day that she had just flown back to the States – just seconds after Paula came barging into their shared room. She then went on texting Emily about how her father wanted her to draft designs for their new branch in Rankin Inlet. Because it was logical to fly two thousand miles to another country on a school day (and it was a Monday) to oversee the structure of their new café branch. Emily rolled her eyes at the blatant lies.

The explanations were just a little too sloppy for Emily to trust. Things happened too frequently to still be labeled a coincidence. At this point she knew better than to ask either girls what was going on. From the day of the fire she decided that maybe silently prying information out of both of them would work for now. Both girls seemed to be in a bubble that left Emily watching from the outside. Were they maybe exes? Or did their families feud over property? Did Paula's family of doctors have something against Alison's family of business moguls?

The brunette's thoughts were shaken when the dean bore his weight on his ankles, discomfort visible, "Miss Avery, if you have something to say about the incident, it would be smart to not disclose it here."

 _What a stressful meeting_ , Emily thought as she stood and walked towards the exit.

She was sitting this one out, letting Paula give the dean a hard time. If that was her way of expressing grief, then Emily wouldn't hold her against it.

She stepped out into the hall, thankful that the temperature outside was slightly warmer than the air-conditioned room she was just in. She couldn't stand being in there any longer anyway.

 _Now what?_

The meeting was technically set during school hours, which meant that it accounted for one unit of attendance in her morning class. Since she left, she had nothing else to do. She considered to walk around campus to clear her head but quickly decided against it when the auditorium doors swung open and a very disgruntled redhead walked through the doorway. No one in her clique seemed to follow her probably due to her apparent irritation.

The redhead's eyes landed on Emily who still had not moved from where she stood. They were a few feet away from one another, Paula being closer to the door and Emily just standing there, watching her. The hall was quiet, which gave the air a thick and awkward feel.

Emily watched her roommate with tired eyes and sighed, turning the other way to walk back to their room. She had nothing to say, and no obvious made-up story would convince her that Paula and Ali didn't clash on every single opportunity. Unless of course the redhead would tell all right there and then.

"If you're wondering, the answer is yes," Paula admitted. Emily was unsure about what she meant and so turned to face her roommate.

" _Yes?_ " she inquired.

"I firmly believe that Ken Dilaurentis' daughter had something to do with that fire," the other girl informed with a stern face, leaving Emily in a state of disbelief.

"That's a heavy accusation," Emily countered, her anger not reaching her eyes. At the back of her mind she _did_ heavily wonder why Alison was there when she hadn't seen her inside the library. She clutched no books, no bag, literally not a visual cue to prove that she was indeed just there to study.

"I stand by it. And judging by the look on your face, I bet you're questioning her reason for being there that morning." Paula said with spite before striding towards the brunette and continuing, "Just ask me, Emily. We both know you're too intrigued."

"Fine," the swimmer muttered, taking in the sight of Paula's unusually thick sweater that wrapped around her waist. Emily looked her in the eye, "What do you have against Alison?"

Paula closed her eyes and smiled smugly.

And Emily braced herself for what she would hear.

* * *

 **A/N: Hi, guys. The next chapter may or may not reveal what categorizes this story as a fantasy. We're getting there.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: This chapter's gonna be a little longer than the usual ones. I'm putting down Ellena Ashley as reference. And please chill out, because Ali does not get high, nor is she a vampire :]] Jeez. Definitely patterned an excerpt after Twilight but I'm not putting you guys through any vampire stuff so chill XD**

* * *

The week dragged on. Not long enough she had moved on, like Toby thought she would. After days of internalizing, Emily _did_ in time accept that there wasn't anything she could have done. There wasn't anything _Paula_ could have done. There wasn't anything the librarian could have done. Nothing _anyone_ could have done to foresee what had happened. Of course, Paula still insisted that Alison be questioned because of her family's supposed "history" with arson, as she had not so gently put it the other week.

"Em?" the blonde whispered, stroking the swimmer's shoulder.

Emily didn't respond and kept her eyes closed, reveling at the feel of Alison's lap against her head.

They rested on the chaise lounge in Alison's dimly-lit living room; the silence comfortable until of course Alison had to say something. She had hoped, for Alison's sake, that it wasn't anything charming. Otherwise the brunette wouldn't fight the urge to rip Alison's clothes off this time.

"Don't ruin it," Emily mumbled, toying with a gold-plated coin she had found under the throw pillow by her leg. By _"it"_ she meant the serene and sickeningly sweet moment they were sharing, though it was quiet.

The blonde seemed to understand but chuckled anyway. "Pins and needles, babe."

Her heart fluttered at the endearment. They had yet to discuss whatever it is that was going on between them, but by the looks of it, things were just fine and steady. In the span of two weeks, suddenly gone was Alison's " _daddy says I can't date_ "bullcrap. For whatever reason after her Canada trip, she was carefree. And Emily could definitely vouch for it, remembering the day Alison landed back in the States. It was a gloomy Monday and she came by the café for an Americano. The same minute Alison's eyes landed on her, the blonde strode to tenderly kiss her in front of everyone there.

She shook her head at the memory and smiled as she sat up from Alison's lap.

"What?" Alison asked, bouncing her leg up and down trying to regain feeling.

"What _what_?" Emily jeered, smirking as she bit her own lip instinctively.

The blonde's eyes darted downwards to Emily's mouth before coming back up to look into brown orbs.

"What are we talking about again?" Alison answered back, visibly flustered by the way the brunette bit her lip.

At that, Emily pulled her in close, connecting her lips with Alison's. After such time, she still had not grown used to the taste of stale cigarettes on the blonde's tongue, but if she was being completely honest to herself, the scent and the taste alike stopped bothering her since the day they got caught making out in that empty science classroom.

The blonde sighed, resting her hand on Emily's waist and lightly gripped dark locks with the other. The soft kiss rapidly intensified, making the swimmer cling onto Alison's shoulders as she moved to straddle the blonde. Alison moaned as Emily's tongue explored her mouth. The feeling was short-lived, however, as the brunette wedged her hand into the sofa's crevice for support, and pulled away after finding another coin under there.

She laughed softly as she examined the small trinket.

"What is it with you and these gold coins?" Emily asked chuckling, sliding her thumb across Alison's lower lip with her free hand.

"Nothing, just," Alison talked under her breath, unable to form a logical thought as the butterflies in her stomach spurred. This time, it was her that pulled Emily back in for a kiss – continuing their previous activity.

The blonde acknowledged the needy feeling between her own legs as she sunk her teeth into Emily's lower lip and moved her hand towards the brunette's behind.

"Ali," Emily breathed, resting her forehead against Alison's. No doubt, Alison turned her on like nobody's business, but their definition of slow obviously differed.

It wasn't that she was playing the inexperienced virgin. If anything, she was actually the _top_ if she were to describe her physical relationship with the blonde. Emily however, only felt apprehensive towards Alison's sudden change of heart the past few days. One second she turns the brunette down and the next she kisses her in front of a café full of bystanders. While Emily welcomed the idea of being with her, it also bothered her that she could drop everything without Alison even asking. Now she blew off party invites. She stopped sleeping in on the last two weekends to instead hang out with the blue-eyed beauty. She stopped attending student org meetings. Hell, she even almost completely stopped talking to Paula.

The hold that the blonde had on her was too strong, too fast. She was afraid that if she started giving up sex too, she'd lose whatever shred of control she had left.

The last bit of Alison's influence though, she admittedly wasn't very guilty for. After Paula had explained her undeniably biased side, Emily kept a bitter attitude towards her roommate. The fact that she hated the DiLaurentis family for being at the wrong place at the wrong time just irritated Emily to the point of silence.

 _"What do you have against Alison?"_ _she asked, looking her roommate stern in the eye._

 _A wave of relief seemed to wash over Paula's features when Emily finally demanded to hear her. As though she'd be spilling Alison's darkest secrets._

 _Emily took a deep breath before exhaling. Just in time, too, because Paula had opened her eyes and looked at Emily with as much intensity._

 _"I'm sure you've heard of the ever-infamous Guardian Medical Center fire back in '88," the redhead sneered._

 _Emily scoffed, slightly having an idea as to what Paula was implying._

 _"The only recorded 5-alarm fire in Philadelphia. Literally everyone in this state knows about that, Paula," she stared at her roommate with sympathetic eyes. Paula's parents lost almost everything to that fire. They were board members as well as attending physicians in that hospital at the time. Too many people died that day. Paula's parents were lucky to even be alive. It was all according to Paula, of course – one note-worthy post sex story that Emily couldn't ever forget._

 _"Ken DiLaurentis did that," Paula claimed as though it were the most obvious thing._

 _Emily went on to stare, waiting for the redhead to continue with her story._

 _"He had just learned that it was the hospital's board members that beat him out at a property auction in Wiesensteig."_

 _"Where's that?" the brunette queried, growing slightly more interested in the legend-like story, though she still didn't know how Alison fit into it. Paula's story was set in 1988, after all. Neither Paula OR Ali were even born back then. Ken DiLaurentis had to be only around 25 years old at the time._

 _"It's a small town in Germany," Paula moved to sit on one of the benches. Emily stood still, watching her roommate who seemed to have a look of both sadness and anger on her face, "He barged in on one of my dad's consults one day and kept saying that Wiesensteig has "always been their grounds", like he had a monopoly on German towns. Real asshole, that man._

 _"Then he threatened that my parents will pay for what they did. And guess what, Emily. The hospital got burned to a fucking crisp that night. But that's not all!"_

 _The brunette clenched her jaw, a chill running down her spine at her roommate's anger. She shifted her weight, now leaning against the pillar across the bench where Paula sat._

 _"Ignore the fact that authorities wrote it off under an oxygen leak. Let me tell you a little story about Ken's son Jason," the agitated redhead spoke, putting emphasis on the word "son". Clearly the hate wasn't centered on just Ken DiLaurentis himself, but rather his entire family._

 _"There once was a boy in a private high school named Jason DiLaurentis. We weren't on the same grade but I knew of him because he was rich and notorious. His father was an arsonist, so I thought he was an arsonist too!_

 _"One day classes got suspended. Mister Bates, my English teacher, told us not to pass by the main building because the Chemistry lab was there and the whole wing had caught on fire, he said._

 _"I saw the police tape around the building and an ambulance that roamed the perimeter, but I didn't think too much of it and just went home. The next day was fun, though, because somebody actually pointed Jason out! I don't know the whole story but he went straight to juvie for "accidentally" setting a school on fire."_

 _Emily closed her eyes and sighed, finally realizing where the story was going._

 _"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree. That's what you're saying, isn't it? That Ali took after her father's alleged crime?" Emily said sarcastically, trying to meet Paula's eyes._

 _Paula stood and glared at the brunette, "I warned you against that fire-starting brat."_

 _"Paula," the swimmer addressed in a calm tone but before she could talk further, her roommate spoke again._

 _"What excuse did she tell you for disappearing for a day, huh, Em?"_

 _Emily's irritation suddenly spiked once more as she remembered how Paula evaded this very topic just the day before, "What's yours?"_

 _The redhead was taken aback, caught off guard by Emily's straight-forwardness. She regained composure just as quickly, however, and challenged back confidently, "I asked you first."_

 _"Canada."_

 _Paula muttered under her breath, and probably intended for Emily to hear, "She's honest, I'll give her that."_

 _"And where were you?"_

 _The redhead rolled her eyes and shook her head._

 _"Paula!" Emily half-yelled, balling up her fists in frustration._

 _"Manitoba. Filing a..." Paula paused to think, "… lawsuit. Against your precious Alison."_

 _She stood suddenly and started walking away from the brunette, but not before Emily had caught her by the forearm._

 _"No, don't even fucking..." Paula spat, writhing under Emily's hold. The brunette had no plans on letting go. In her head, the conversation was far from over. That was until she saw a single tear fall down the redhead's face, "Let go. You're hurting me, Em."_

 _Emily quickly loosened her grip, letting her roommate ultimately walk right out of sight. She had never seen her so vulnerable before. Even after over a year of knowing the redhead, she had never so much as seen the girl sulk – much less cry. It tugged at Emily's heartstrings, but knowing Paula, she trusted that the redhead would suck it up eventually. She prayed she would._

 _Emily sighed. Paula's story was definitely flawed from her point of view. There were too many holes, such as why there was even a dispute between land – in Germany of all places. And how many run-ins would their families be in in their lifetime? How small and anomalous the world truly was if it were always just a coincidence. Lastly, why would a legal case be processed in Canada if the supposed crime was committed in the United States by_ _an_ American _citizen? She was no lawyer but Emily was fairly certain that Paula got that lawsuit part wrong. Didn't she? She_ had _to have meant something else._

 _Dragging her feet away from the building, she walked to the one café that drew her in, yearning for consolation in a certain blue-eyed blonde._

It took an entirety of four minutes to conjure up that memory of her bitter exchange with Paula. She glanced from Alison's digital clock, back into the blonde's eyes.

"I think I should go," Emily whispered, giving Alison a peck on the lips. Their position stayed unchanged for a little while – the brunette laying comfortably atop the other girl before Emily attempted to get up.

"Don't. I'm sorry. I won't do it again, I promise," Alison said pleadingly, her hands now resting on both sides of Emily's waist. "We can take it slow."

Emily gazed into Alison's blue eyes and saw nothing but sincerity. She could drown in them, she thought. Never before has she been in a situation where she thought drowning was a good thing, but Alison's shade of cerulean made her question every logical thing she knew.

"Tell me a story," the brunette whispered, settling back comfortably in the warmth of Alison's body. She mentally kicked herself for pulling a cliché, but at the time that was the best she could come up with to keep the moment going. Not that she didn't enjoy the silence. The silence was very nice, but the way Alison's fingertips traced her back as she spoke was just a sensation she wouldn't trade for quietness.

That night Emily lost sleep, her thoughts never leaving the blonde's story and how she seemed to memorize it like the back of her hand.

* * *

 _"This story begins with once upon a time, because the best stories do, of course._

 _So, once upon a time, and imagine if you can, a steep sided valley cluttered with giant, spiky green pine trees and thick, green grass that reaches to the top of your socks so that when you run, you have to bring your knees up high, like running through water. Wildflowers spread their sweet heady perfume along the gentle breezes and bees hum musically to themselves as they cheerily collect flower pollen._

 _People are very happy here and they work hard, keeping their houses spick and span and their children's faces clean._

 _This particular summer had been very hot and dry, making the lean farm dogs sleepy and still. Farmers whistled lazily to themselves and would stand and stare into the distance, trying to remember what it was that they were supposed to be doing. By two o'clock in the afternoon, the town would be in a haze of slumber, with grandmas nodding off over their knitting and farmers snoozing in the haystacks. It was very, very hot._

 _No matter how hot the day, however, the children would always play in the gentle, rolling meadows. With wide brimmed hats and skin slippery with sun block, they chittered and chattered like sparrows, as they frolicked in their favorite spot._

 _Now, their favorite spot is very important to this story because in this particular spot is a large, long, scaly rock that looks amazingly similar to a sleeping dragon._

 _The children knew it was a dragon._

 _The grownups knew it was a dragon._

 _The dogs and cats and birds knew it was a dragon._

 _But nobody was scared because it never, ever moved._

 _The boys and girls would clamber all over it, poking sticks at it and hanging wet gumboots on its ears but it didn't mind in the least. The men folk would sometimes chop firewood on its zigzagged tail because it was just the right height and the Ladies Weaving Group often spun sheep fleece on its spikes._

 _Often on a cool night, when the stars were twinkling brightly in a velvet sky and the children peacefully asleep, the grownups would settle for the evening with a mug of steaming cocoa in a soft cushioned armchair. Then the stories about How The Dragon Got There began. Nobody knew for sure, there were many different versions depending on which family told the tale, but one thing that everybody agreed on, was this:_

 _In Times of Trouble_  
 _The Dragon will Wake_  
 _And Free the Village_  
 _By making a Lake_

 _This little poem was etched into everybody's minds and sometimes appeared on tea towels and grandma's embroidery._

 _The days went by slowly, quietly and most importantly, without any rain. There had been no rain in the valley for as long as the children could remember. The wells were starting to bring up muddy brown water and clothes had to be washed in yesterday's dishwater. The lawns had faded to a crisp biscuit color and the flowers drooped their beautiful heads. Even the trees seemed to hang their branches like weary arms. The valley turned browner and drier and thirstier, every hot, baking day._

 _The townsfolk grew worried and would murmur to each other when passing with much shaking of heads and tut tuts. They would look upwards searching for rain clouds in the blue, clear sky, but none ever came._

 _"The tale of the Dragon cannot be true," said old Mrs Greywhistle, the shopkeeper._

 _"It hasn't moved an inch, I swear," replied her customer, tapping an angry foot._

 _It was now too hot for the children to play out in the direct sun and they would gather under the shade of the trees, digging holes in the dust and snapping brittle twigs._

 _"The Dragon will help us soon," said one child._

 _"He must do Something," agreed another._

 _"I'm sure he will."_

 _They all nodded in agreement._

 _A week went by with no change, the people struggling along as best they could. Some were getting cross at the Dragon and would cast angry, sideways looks at it when passing. The villagers were becoming skinny eyed and sullen._

 _Meanwhile, the children had a plan._

 _Quickly and quietly, they moved invisibly around town, picking and plucking at the fading flowers. With outstretched arms and bouquets up to their chins, they rustled over to where the giant rock lay, as still as ever._

 _The boys and girls placed bunches of flowers around the Dragon in a big circle. They scattered petals around its head and over its nose, then danced around and around it, skipping and chanting the rhyme that they all knew so well._

 _In Times of Trouble_  
 _The Dragon Will Wake_  
 _And Save the Village_  
 _By making a Lake._

 _The searing heat made them dizzy and fuzzy and finally they all fell in a sprawling heap at the bottom of the mound. They looked up at the rock._

 _Nothing happened._

 _A dry wind lazily picked up some flower heads and swirled them around. The air was thick with pollen and perfume. A stony grey nostril twitched._

 _"I saw something," cried the youngest boy._

 _They stared intently._

 _An ear swiveled like a periscope._

 _The ground began to rumble._

 _"Look out! Run! Run!"_

 _The children scampered in all directions, shrieking and squealing, arms pumping with excitement._

 _The rumbling grew and grew._

 _The Dragon raised its sleepy head. It got onto its front feet and sat like a dog. It stood up and stretched, arching its long scaly back like a sleek tabby cat. It blinked and looked around with big kind, long lashed eyes._

 _And then its nostrils twitched and quivered again._

 _The older folk were alerted by the screams and shrieks. The ladies held up their long skirts to run and the men rolled their sleeves up and soon the whole town stood together in a tight huddle at the foot of the hill, staring up at the large beast with mouths held open._

 _"AHHHHH AAHHHHHHHHH!"_

 _The noise erupted from the Dragon._

 _"AHHHHH AAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"_

 _The families gripped each other tighter and shut their eyes._

 _"AHHHHH CHOOOOOOOOO!"_

 _The sneeze blasted from the Dragon like a rocket, throwing it back fifty paces, causing a whirlwind of dust and dirt._

 _"AHHHHH CHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_

 _The second blast split open the dry earth, sending explosions of soil and tree roots high into the sky like missiles, and something else too ..._

 _The people heard the sound but couldn't recognize it at first for it had been such a long time since their ears had heard such tinkling melody. As their eyes widened in wonder, their smiles turned into grins and then yahoos and hoorahs._

 _Water, cold, clear spring water, oozed, then trickled, then roared out of the hole, down the hillside and along the valley floor._

 _The torrent knocked over a farmer's haystack, but he didn't care._

 _The river carried away the schoolteacher's bike shed but she cared not a jot. It even demolished the Ladies Bowling Club changing rooms but they howled with laughter and slapped their thighs. When the flood sent pools of water out towards the golf course, filling up sixteen of the nineteen holes, the men just hooted and whistled and threw their caps up in the air._

 _What used to be a dirty, brown dust bowl, now gleamed and glistened in the sunlight, sending playful waves and ripples across the lake and inviting all to share._

 _"HMMMMM," sighed the Dragon sleepily, and showing his perfect movie star teeth. "Seeing as I'm awake ..."_

 _And he lumbered forward with surprising grace and style and disappeared into the cool dark water with a small wave of a claw and flick of his tail._

 _They never saw him again._

 _After the families had restored and rebuilt the village, and set up sailing clubs for the children, and scuba diving for the grandparents, they erected a bandstand and monument in the spot where the Dragon used to lay. Every year to mark the occasion, they would bring garlands of flowers and herbs and arrange them in a big circle. The children would have the day off school, for it was known as 'Water Dragon Day' and wearing the dragon masks that they had been working on all week, would skip and clap and sing._

 _The Dragon helped Us_  
 _As We said He would Do_  
 _Hooray for The Dragon_  
 _Achoo, Achoo, ACHOOOO!_

 _And that is the end of the story."_


End file.
